Ken Martin, the leader of the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota, issued a statement in response to Kimmel’s tweet, saying in part:

“On behalf of the Minnesota DFL, I strongly condemn his
comments. I ask Dan Kimmel to apologize to all the families who have
been torn apart by the terrorist organization and their senseless
violence. In this time of enormous grief, we shouldn’t be making excuses
for this barbaric behavior.”

Nonetheless, the damage was done. Kimmel ended up calling it quits on Sunday, apologizing to his supporters and volunteers saying:

“I am very sorry for ‘spreading ick’ on other candidates
and the DFL party. I will do everything I can to help resolve the issue:
most likely the best thing for me to do is shut up. The tweet was
stupid. I’m sorry.”

The Associated Press suggested
that Kimmel’s decision might have come in part from a statement by
state House Minority leader Paul Thissen, who suggested that the
Burnsville software developer suspend his second campaign in light of
the posts.